MARGIELA’S SPRING SHOES + MY THOUGHTS ON GALLIANO JOINING THE MAISON

Last week we payed another little visit to the wonderful Maison Martin Margiela head quarters in Paris.
Suddenly I stood eye to eye with my dream shoe from the MM6 collection; an exaggerated and simplified platform sandal in a collection that was inspired by playing dress up. A shoe-porn shooting session followed and I am already looking forward to welcoming these babies into my closet next spring.





Same brand, other news.
John Galliano.
I got so many messages about what I though about this new development at one of my favorite fashion houses.
Even after a day of letting it sink in, I don’t have an opinion yet. Remember the rumors of Raf Simons turning down the offer of becoming creative director? Now the opposite just happened, so confusing.

What would have been cooler and true to the Margiela spirit is to have put Galliano in charge for a few seasons before announcing it to the world. So that the press (and everyone else who is already loving and hating) could have formed an unprejudiced opinion about the clothes. Though I am not a fan of his last collections at Dior, I think that this does have potential of becoming a happy marriage. I remember going to an exposition in Centraal Museum in my hometown of Utrecht when I was about 16 years old. I went there specially to see three of John Galliano’s Dior dresses that were on display. They were from the 2000′s couture collection, inspired by the homeless Parisians. I was stunned and completely in awe. It took me about an hour to process what I was seeing; incredible couture detailing, trash bags sewn into the dresses, inside out labels, newspapers, frayed fabrics, he saw beauty where others did not while at the same time telling a clear story with his clothes. It is a similar feeling that I get when looking at some Margiela pieces. John Galliano is smart enough to understand the codes of Margiela, I am curious to see what he will do with them.

The fact that Margiela is already all over the news with a star designer who loves to be in the spotlight in all his extravagant glory is what I don’t like so much. What I’m most afraid of is that Margiela will turn into the freakshow of fashion week instead of staying that understated, niche brand. Still, I have no opinion about it yet. Lets see what John does at Couture in January. I hope he can keep the subtlety of Martin Margiela in the Maison.